


Looking out of bounds, out for each other

by astralelegies



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-09 02:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11659356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralelegies/pseuds/astralelegies
Summary: A trio of pre-finale behind-the-scenes drabbles centering on some of our favorite TAZ heroes (and anti-heroes).part one – back soonHe’s a kid with two skinned knees and a hat that’s too big for him, and Lup is laughing at him from her seat atop the wagon, parked rather haphazardly in the middle of the narrow alley.“You call that a heist?”





	Looking out of bounds, out for each other

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so it’s not really pre-finale if I post them all after the finale has already started airing, but that’s just details.

When Taako’s memory returns, the whole of time seems to compress itself into the space of a split second. Caught in an instant stretched into an eternity, crushed beneath the weight of a century’s worth of recollections, Taako searches—without thought, without conscious choice—for the common thread that dances through them all. And then, latching onto this tether, he pulls himself free.

In that split second, Taako remembers. 

He’s a kid with two skinned knees and a hat that’s too big for him, and Lup is laughing at him from her seat atop the wagon, parked rather haphazardly in the middle of the narrow alley. 

“You call _that_ a heist?” 

“I’ll admit,” says Taako, standing and dusting himself off, “the technique could use a little work, but you have to give me points for creativity.” 

If “creativity” means “turning invisible and appropriating a vehicle he doesn’t exactly know how to drive right out from under the proprietors, who were in an argument with Lup.” 

“You almost crashed us into the wall,” his sister says, and he just shrugs. 

“I _almost_ did.”

(Something inside him, at the heart of this recollection, thinks: _how could I have forgotten_ , and even as he knows it is not his fault, it feels like a betrayal.)

A few streets away, the wagon’s (former) proper owners are shouting up a storm. There’s a rush of running footsteps, though none close yet. Lup folds her arms. 

“What are we going to do with a wagon?”

“I’m sure you’ve already thought of at least four ideas.” 

She grins at him, happy to oblige the claim, and then her brow furrows. She hops down from the passenger’s seat, landing gracefully on her feet and not sprawled in the dirt like her brother, and inspects him.

“You’re hurt.”

“Only a little.” 

“Still,” Lup says, and she’s using the Serious Voice she so rarely sees cause for, “we should bandage up the wounds. Wouldn’t want ‘em to get infected.” 

A few months ago, before their last caravan gave them the boot, a musician got into a fight with a warrior-for-hire in the town square. He crawled back to camp, injured but determined to persist in his usual activities. But at the time there was a drought in that city, barely enough water for drinking, and none for washing. The man died three days later. 

It hasn’t made Lup and Taako any more careful, really, except in moments like this. 

Taako, for his part, has never been one to care for the gravity of a situation—has never been able to afford it, and after everything he and Lup have been through, living on their own, fending for themselves, has never wanted to. So, in this moment, he decides to do what he does best. He falls to the ground.

“Lup,” he gasps, making sure to really lay it on thick, “Lup, help me! I think it’s got me, Lup.”

“Taako?”

She runs to him, and the note of alarm in her voice is genuine enough that he’ll definitely be teasing her about it later. He lifts his head in valiant defiance of the last throes of death. 

“Lup…remember that I…I… _blerrghhh_.” 

He collapses, fully pleased with his performance. A beat passes. Instead of Lup’s concerned voice, he hears a strange gurgling sound, coming from right next to him. He peeks his eyes open and sees his twin on her back, limbs skewed at uncomfortable angles, a trail of blood leaking from one corner of her mouth.

“ _Lup._ ”

He stumbles in his haste to crouch by her side, but as soon as he reaches the body, it disappears, and behind him, someone bursts out laughing. He whirls around to see Lup standing at the mouth of the alley, practically doubled over. 

“I got you good,” she crows. “I cast Mislead while you were pretending to be dead.” 

Taako contemplates scowling at her. Instead, he says, “Since when have you known that spell?”

“Since about two minutes ago.”

They both laugh at that. After a while, when the joke begins to wear off, they look over their injuries together. 

“We really should do something about these,” Lup says. Taako nods. 

“I’ll stay with the wagon.” 

“Then I’ll go for supplies. Back soon,” she tells him, and in the present the words reverberate in Taako’s brain. 

_Back soon. Lup…back from where?_ Taako’s fingers are shaking. In his hands, the Umbra Staff gives a twitch.


End file.
